Suzuki is starting to promote its display at next month’s Geneva Auto Show, which will feature two new cars aimed at reducing their owner’s carbon footprint.

While both vehicles are designed for efficiency, they use different means to achieve that end. The Swift Range Extender goes about this with a strategy similar to the Chevy Volt — by using a mostly electric drivetrain that also packs a tiny 660 cc three-cylinder engine.

The G70 concept (pictured above), which is perhaps the more interesting of the two, is designed to tread lightly on the environment without such technology. Instead, Suzuki decided to build it as an ultra-light vehicle that doesn’t need much gas because there isn’t a lot to push around. The G70 only weighs a bit over 1600 pounds and is shaped to minimize drag. The company claims that it’s actually 10 percent less wind resistant than any of their current “A” segment models.

We’ll be covering the Geneva Auto Show next month and bringing you the latest as it unfolds.

Titled “Sled”, Suzuki will be showing off their all-wheel drive 2012 Kizashi sport sedan for this year’s Super Bowl commercial. The Kizashi is also the same vehicle Suzuki showed off in their Super Bowl ad last year, which was the company’s first ever.

The ad was developed by Siltanen & Partners Advertising, and hopes to illustrate the “exhilaration one can receive from upgrading their ordinary daily driver with a more entertaining mode of transportation.” Unfortunately not many of us can relate from having to use a dog sled as a method of transportation, but we think you get the point.

The ad won’t be the only thing Suzuki is kicking off on Super Bowl Sunday. The automaker will also be giving away BARKCODE tags to the first 1,000 consumers to register on www.KizashiKicks.com/sled. Each BARKCODE tag is a personalized pet identification tag with a scannable 2D code, allowing pet owners to be reunited if their furry friends become lost or misplaced during a natural disaster. With each tag ordered, BARKCODE will donate $3.00 on behalf of Suzuki to the American Red Cross.

Watch the commercial after the break.

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Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest auto company, is set to unveil the new XAα concept car at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.

While earlier reports suggested that the new concept will eventually replace Maruti Suzuki’s highly successful Jimny SUV, Maruti Suzuki managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi explained that, “the Concept XAα is designed for a market of customers with a young urban lifestyle.” While the Jimny is sold to the masses as a cheap, practical, and rugged offroader, the XAα aims to be a chic, urban lifestyle SUV for the younger generation.

A production version of the XAα will be launched next year but details are scarce. Maruti Suzuki has confirmed that two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive options will be available with a petrol or diesel engine. As a tax break is given to smaller vehicles, the length of the XAα will likely be less than 157 inches.

Maruti Suzuki will also unveil a second SUV called the Ertiga. The automaker aims to introduce the new products in quick succession to take advantage of India’s growing market and to remain as the leading automaker for the country.

Nakanishi says, “India is set to become one of the top automobile markets of the world. This may become evident as early as the next Delhi Auto Expo. Maruti Suzuki will lead India’s automobile growth and evolution by strengthening its compact car portfolio, entering new segments, and creating new product categories across fuel options.”

GALLERY: Maruti Suzuki XAα Concept

[Source: Left Lane News]

There’s the Honda N-Box and the Daihatsu Pico, but nothing at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show can compare to the extreme levels of cuteness on display at the Suzuki booth.

In total, Suzuki has presented three new concept cars, ranging from near-production to downright absurd. In the latter category is the Q Concept (above), which looks more like a Discman (remember those?) than a car and offers an emissions-free electric range of six miles.

Next up is the Regina concept, which looks close to production, with a fresh styling perspective and a conventional gasoline engine. Thanks to significant attention paid to weight reduction, it manages an incredible 72.3-mpg.

Finally there’s the Swift EV Hybrid, which gets its confusing name from a range-extender powerplant similar to that found in the Chevy Volt. Offering between 12 and 18 miles of electric travel, the gasoline engine then kicks in to recharge the batteries to deliver added range.

GALLERY: Suzuki Q Concept

GALLERY: Suzuki Regina Concept

GALLERY: Suzuki Swift EV Hybrid Concept

The honeymoon period didn’t last long for Suzuki and Volkswagen and now the Japanese automaker has filed for divorce. In an official statement Suzuki Motor Corp. has announced it will seek arbitration in an attempt to get back the shares the German auto giant currently holds in the Japanese small car manufacturer.

“The arbitration proceedings follow Suzuki’s termination of its alliance with Volkswagen AG on 18 November 2011, and Volkswagen AG‘s lack of response to Suzuki’s requests for the disposition of its shares,” said Suzuki in a release.

The two automakers signed a partnership agreement in 2009, with Suzuki taking a 1.49 percent stake in Volkswagen, and VW taking a 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki. No joint projects ever came of the venture and Volkswagen accuses Suzuki of breaking the spirit of the agreement by purchasing diesel engines from VW rival Fiat.

Suzuki is seeking to have VW sell back the shares it holds, or to sell them to a third party.

[Source: AutoNews]

The soap opera between Suzuki and Volkswagen has been ongoing for almost a year and now the Japanese automaker is looking to back out. Suzuki wants to buy back all the 19.9% of its shares that VW currently owns and that if the German automaker does not comply, Suzuki will seek mediation.

According to a statement by Suzuki Motor Corporations Chairman Osamu Suzuki, they have terminated the partnership as of today.

This whole rift starter when VW accused Suzuki for violating their agreement when Suzuki made a deal with Fiat S.p.A. over engines.

VW then went on to anger Suzuki by listing it as an “associate” and not a partner in its annual report, and lists Suzuki under “other holdings.”

Suzuki felt this was an insult to its honor and has thus been wanting to end their partnership ever since.

VW has not commented if it will indeed sell its shares back to Suzuki, so this story is far from over yet and from a legal stand-point can get much uglier still.

[Source: Automotive News]

While Suzuki cars might not be very popular in North America, in its home market of Japan, they are a very big deal indeed. So to serve their home market, Suzuki is bringing a trio of concept cars for the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. These are the Regina, Q Concept and the Swift EV Hybrid.

The Regina is a lightweight city car that can seat four, and despite just having a gasoline engine, should manage 72.3-mpg. Apart from the low weight, its low drag co-efficient also helps it achieve its impressive fuel economy figures. Suzuki didn’t mention the exact Cd figure but says its 10% lower than similar sized city cars.

GALLERY: Suzuki Regina Concept

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Participating in an auto show is an expensive business. To rent the right amount of space for your display, then have a stage constructed to represent the brands image, plus hiring all the staff needed at the booth to answer questions from the public. It’s all a very big and expensive affair which can easily cost up to $1-million per show.

All this is fine when the company is making tons of money, but when a company is in the red, spending lavishly at an auto show is not the smartest thing to do.

Take Suzuki for example. Back in 2007, it was selling 100,000 vehicles in the States per year. Last year, that number was down to less than a quarter of that at 23,994 units.

While Suzuki sales are up slightly this year, but not by much, and it looks as if the brand will not have a great year ahead of them either. To save money, Suzuki has decided to skip the upcoming L.A. Auto Show, and will also skip the North American International Auto Show in January.

Suzuki’s spokesman Jeff Holland said; “For the upcoming season, our brand will selectively participate at auto shows where our distinctive and engaging story will resonate the most.

Apparently Suzuki’s story does not resonate with the California crowd, as only 430 new Suzuki’s were sold in the sunny state.

Part of the reason Suzuki has been struggling is because of the strength of the Japanese Yen compared to the Dollar. Apart from the Equator pick-up truck, all the Suzuki models are built in Japan, and the unfavorable exchange rate is hurting them very directly.

In its home market, Suzuki is still a very brand and the most popular new car sold in Japan is the Suzuki Wagon R, plus their motorbike division is among the most successful in the industry on a global scale.

[Source: Automotive News]

10. Toyota Yaris 3-Door: $14,115

You can sound polite and say “inexpensive” but if you’re strapped for cash, the most important question when shopping for a new car is: what’s the cheapest car on the market? AutoGuide has got the answer, along with the nine runners up.

Toyota‘s warmed-over Yaris makes the 10th spot on our list with a base price of $14,115 for the 3-door model. The pricier 5-door will run you $15,150.

Using a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder like many of its counterparts the Yaris makes 106-hp and is rated at 38-mpg on the highway making it one of the most efficient models in its class, but not the most efficient. Growing three inches overall, Toyota claims the new car has 68 percent more cargo room than the outgoing model, which it shares a near-identical resemblance with. Standard on all models is air conditioning, nine airbags and power windows.

A public disagreement between Volkswagen and Suzuki in early September left the Japanese automaker wanting to end its partnership, but that might not happen. In a news release Monday, the company said it “will retain its stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. unchanged.”

Suzuki requested its shares be returned in light of what representatives say are numerous violations in the 2009 agreement to develop green cars. Two years ago the companies partnered, agreeing to share VW technology with Suzuki in exchange for insight into emerging markets like India. The agreement disintegrated since then, with both companies citing violations by the other.

Suzuki claims Volkswagen violated the agreement in developing hybrids and electric cars several times thus far. On the other end of the argument, Suzuki also bought diesel engines from VW rival Fiat, something Volkswagen said was contradictory to their agreement.

Volkswagen made an announcement about the issue early last month, leading to a public dispute between then two companies. The fight left Suzuki insisting the companies part ways.

Suzuki owns just under a 1.5 percent stake in Volkswagen.

[Source: The Detroit News]